Printing device



Aug. 13, 1929. w. H. CONANT v PRINTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 14, 1928 Q I o .v u w h mv m [m n W m w o. K m n N H01 w fi m+ E 1 1, Q I. a mm um N mm 5 E O i m 51 2 m NM 5 on Q o Patented Aug. 13, 1929.

WILLIAM H. CONANT, OF BRONXVILLE, NEW

ING CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N.

YORK, ASSIGNOR T CARLSTADT 'HOLD- Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PRINTING DEVICE.

Application filed August 14, 1928.

My invention relates to improvements in printing devices, and particularly has reference to a machine adapted to print upon the periphery of cylindrical bodies; i. e.,- containers such as drums, etc, especially for oil. The objects of my improvement are to provide a simple machine with a minimum of complicated and costly parts; to provide a machine in which drums etc., may be printed without the necessity of having separate power driven rotating means; to reduce the tendency of the printing rollerto skid while in contact with the surface to be printed upon, thus effecting a clear cut impression free of blurring and smearing; to provide a machine that will print uniformly at all times and have no tendency to print very heavily at one time and faintly the next or print heavily on one edge of the printing and faintly on the other; and finally to provide a machine so simple and easy of operation that a large number of drums can be handled quickly by unskilled labor even though the drums vary greatly in circumference. The containers need not be strictly cylindrical as my machine will function as well for barrelshaped containers as for those containers having strictly parallel sides. a

I attain these objects by the machine il lustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the entire machine, parts being broken away for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail, parts being broken away showing the mechanism for transmitting ink to the printing roller; and 2 Fig. 3 is a detail in front elevation illus trating the longitudinal movement of one of the transfer rolls.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to Fig. 1, the base of the machine 4 is provided with standards 5 and bearings 6, carrying shafts 7 upon which spaced pairs of idler rollers 8 are mounted for rotatably supporting the container to be printed.

A frame 11 is pivotally mounted on studs 3 carried by standards 5. 12 is an auxiliary frame rigidly secured to frame 11. 13 is a side bar rigidly secured to frame 12. Journaled adjacent the forward end of frame 12 is shaft 16 carrying printing roller 17 actuated by crank 15 andhandle 14.

the rotation of roller 29 is Serial No. 299,476.

The weight of all the parts stud 3 furnishes the necessary printing pressure and also sufficient frictional contact with drum 9 to rotate it.

The inking mechanism consists of an ink reservoir 30 in frame 11 from which ink is taken by the ink take-up roller 29 which contacts with roller 31, roller 32, roller 40 and roller 41 which inks printing roller 17.

The ink take-up roller 29, journaled adjacent the rear end of frame 12, is driven step by step by rotation of shaft 16 through the following mechanism: A sprocket chain 19 passes over sprocket 18, mounted on shaft 16, and sprocket 20 mounted on shaft 21. 54 is an idler mounted on the frame 12 to keep the sprocket chain taut. The disc 22 is mounted on shaft 21 and carries offset pin 23 pivotally mounted in the link 24 the other end of which is pivotally mounted in one endof link 25by pin 55. Link 25 is pivotally mounted at the other end on shaft 26 which carries the ratchet 27. Pivoted on link 25 is pawl 28 which engages the ratchet 27 so that as the sprocket chain 19 driven by sprocket 18, rotates shaft 21, causing the off- .set pin 23 to revolve and consequently causing a vertical rise and fall of the link 24 and also of the ri ht hand end of link 25, a step by step rotation is given the roller 29. As actuated by shaft 16, it is synchronized with the rotation of printing roller 17 To regulate the amount of ink transferred to printing roller 17 roller 29, preferably of steel, is provided with scraper 41 (see Fig.

The train of transfer rollers 31, 32, 40 and 41 are arranged to provide printing roller 17 with an evenly distributed and uniform supply of ink. 32 are mounted in the brackets 33 and 34, respectively, which are pivotally mounted on the frame 12. These rollers are normally in contact with each other .as the brackets are drawn rightwardly by the springs 35, 36. As shown in Fig. 2, a cam 37 is secured upon the shaft 21, and to the shaft 38, by which the bracket 33 is pivotally mounted upon the frame 12, is secured a tongue 39 in the path of rotation of said cam 37. As the cam rotates clockwise, it lifts the tongue 39 and throws the bracket 33 leftwardly so that roller 31 contacts with steel ink roller 29 and is rotated thereby,

pivoted on i .95 The rollers 31 and sition shown in and allow the framework to descend until and then the bracket 33 rebounds rightwardly again under the influence of the spring 35, transferring the ink to the roller 32, from which it is in turn transmitted to roller 40, roller 41 and printing roller 17 Roller 31 is preferably rubber faced, roller 32 is made of steel and roller 40 is rubber faced. By this arrangement roller 31 takes ink at regular intervals from the ink takeup roller 29 which returns the excess ink to the reservoir 30; a uniform quantity of ink is thus constantly supplied printing roller 17.

To obtainan even distribution of ink on the roller 40, the roller 32 is given a lateral movement while rotating. This movement is caused by cams 49, 50 (see Fig. 3), fixed to the shaft 51 on which the roller32 is rotatably mounted, so that, as the roller 32 rotates by friction, the lateral pins 52 and 53 thereof ride against the face of the cams 49 and 50 thereby imparting a lateral movement to the roller 32. This movement causes an even distribution of ink on roller 40 which is evenly transferred to the printing roller 17 by inking roller 41.

To swing the printing roller 17 and the inking mechanism'on, the studs 3 in order that the roller 17 may be brought in contact with and removed from the drum to be printed, the side bars 48 of the handle 44 are pivoted by pins 45 to the standards 5. Links 46 are pivoted to the side bars 48 at one end and at the other end to the side bars '13. When the handle 44 is brought forward and down, the links 46 raise the side bars13 which, being rigidly secured to frame 12, raise the entire framework pivoted on the studs 3. When the handle 44 is pushed back and upwardly to the po- Fig.1 the links 46 drop the printing roller 17 rests on the drum to be printed. By continuing the movement of handle 44 toward the left, the frictional contact of the roller against the drum may be increased to any desired degree and, obviously, from the arrangement of parts illustrated, this pressure may be made during the operation of the device. Stops 47 on the standards 5 prevent the handle 44 from further movement to the left so that the frame work pivoted on the studs 3 cannot swing down all the way to the base and thus damage the inking and printing mechanism.

I The operation of the machine is so simple that a skilled operator is unnecessary. operator simply pulls the The handle 44 forward, rolls a drum on to the rollers 8, pushes the handle 44 back until the printing roller rests on the drum and then cranks the handle 14 which rotates the roller 17 as well as actuating the inking means. The roller 17 due to the pressure caused by the weight of the parts carried on the pivoted framework easily rotates the drum by frictional contact. After the drum has completed one revolution, which can easily be observed by the operator as he has an unobstructed view of the point where the printing started when the drum is approaching the completion of one revolution, the operator pulls the handle 44 forward, rolls the drum off the support and has the machine in position to receive the next drum.

Drums for oil usually have external flanges such as 42, 43 on the drum 9. These flanges pass between the paired rollers 8 and serve to guide the drum during rotation. Such drums generally are printed only in the space 10 between the flanges 42 and 43 and in such case the roller 17 just its between the two flanges and also serves to guide the drums. The opposed pairs of idler supporting rollers 8 arerelatively close together so that the points of contact with the periphery of the drum are separated by a comparatively small arc. This arrangement of the rollers eliminates the possibility of the drum wedging between the rollers under the influence of the pressure of the printing roller, reduces friction to a minimum. and contributes greatly to the success of the machine.

My machine is adapted to print drums of varying size with no adjustment at all as the operator simply pushes the handle 44 back until the printing roller 17 rests on drum. He does exactly the same thing although the drums may be varying as much speeds ofthe printing roller and the drum? the printing roller rotates the drum and consequently the peripheral speeds of the two must be the same. The drum does not lag behind the printing roller in rotating due to my expedient of pivoting the entire framework of the printing mechanism sothat its whole weight bears down on the drum thus supplying sufficient pressure to rotate the drum by frictional contact. 7

I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood that various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as disclosed.

I claim:

1. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a drum, a support for the drum, a standard, a frame pivoted at one end to the standard above and laterally to the drum whereby the axis of the pivot and the axis of the drum are parallel, a printing roller journaled in the opposite end of said frame vertically over the drum whereby the weight of the frame and its associated parts prollfl vides the roller printing pressure and sufficient frictional contact to rotate the drum, means for supplying ink to said roller, and means independent of the support for driving the roller, the said driving means being carried by the frame.

2. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a drum, a base carrying drum-supporting idler rollers, a standard, a frame pivoted at one end to the standard above and laterally to the drum whereby the axis of the pivot and the axis of the drum are parallel, a printing roller journaled in the opposite end of said frame vertically over the drum whereby the weight of the frame and its associated parts provides the roller printing pressure and suflicient frictional contact to drive the drum, an ink reservoir on said frame supplying ink to the roller, and manual means carried by the frame for driving the roller and the drum at the same peripheral.

3. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a drum, 3. base carrying drumsupporting idler rollers, a standard, a frame pivoted at one end to the standard above and laterally to the drum whereby the axis of the pivot and the axis of the drum are parallel, a printing roller journaled in the opposite end of said frame vertically over the drum whereb the weight of the frame and its associated parts provides the roller printing pressure and sufiicient frictional cont-act to drive the drum, an ink reservoir on said frame, a train of rollers to convey ink from said reservoir to the printing roller and manual means carried by the frame for driving said printing roller and the drum at the same peripheral speed.

' 4. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a cylindrical body, means for sup porting said body, a standard, a frame pivoted at one end to the standard above and laterally to the support whereby the axis of the pivot and the axis of the body are parallel, the said frame being adapted to swing on its pivot independently of the support, inking and printing means, and

means carried by the frame for actuating said inking and printing means and for rotating said body upon the support.

5. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a cylindrical body, a support for the bod a frame mounted for vertical movement a ove the support, a printing roller in said frame having its axis parallel with and substantially directly above the axis of the body, means for raising and lowering said frame to bring the roller into and out of contact with the drum, and means carried by the frame for driving the roller, the said drum being rotated by said roller independently of the support.

6. In a device for printing upon the pe riphery of a cylindrical body, spaced pairs of idler rollers for supporting the body, the said rollers being positioned close together to prevent the body from wedging therebetween, a frame mounted for vertical movement above the support, a printing roller in said frame having its axis parallel with and substantially directly above the axis of the body, means for raising and lowering said frame to bring the roller into and out of contact with the drum, and means carried by the frame for driving the roller, the said drum being rotated by said roller independently of the supporting rollers.

7. In a device for printing upon the periphery of a cylindrical drum, spaced idler rollers for rotatably supporting the drum, a vertical support, a frame connected to said support above said drum so as to be capable of vertical movement, a printing roller carried by said frame vertically above said drum, means carried by the frame for rotating said roller, the printing roller serving to rotate the drum by frictional contact therewith, and means whereb the frictional contact between the roller an the drum ma be varied during the operation of the device.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this 7th day of August, A. D. 1928.

WILLIAM H. CONANT. 

